Many restaurants now include a section of healthy choices on their menus, catering to the diet-conscious crowd. Even fast-food chains offer salads, fruits and low-fat choices. Heart Attack Grill takes a decidedly different approach, challenging other eateries by bucking the current trend toward healthy choices.

Pittsburgh is home to an active arts scene, including several major museums that feature world-class exhibits. Along with the dinosaur-sized organizations, there are several smaller, less mainstream alternatives, including the Mattress Factory.

The world of higher education has long been ruled by independent or state institutions, funded largely through endowments provided by tradition-bound alums. But Pittsburgh-based Education Management Corporation has taken a different approach.

Online shopping has become a routine endeavor: search, choose among available products, order and pay. For the more creative among us who eschew the ho-hum, prepare to be Zazzled. What differentiates Zazzle is “on-demand, made-to-order technologies to completely eliminate the economics of scarcity and empower a truly democratic marketplace where anyone can create and/or sell products with no upfront cost.”

Environmentally conscious consumers want nice things too, and can be caught in a guilty struggle when high fashion conflicts with going green. Ecoist provides a stylish solution with its mission to “merge design with social and environmental consciousness to provide stylish, functional and durable products.”

For decades, craftspeople and artisans have sold their wares at fairs and festivals. As with many products and services, the craft fair has now gone virtual with Etsy, “an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade.”

Although few will admit it, many of us have read romance novels. Their popularity can be explained by our need for fantasy to take us away from the monotony of everyday life, putting ourselves in the position of the exciting characters. Yournovel.com takes this flight of fancy one step further by basing its products on those who order them.

In some real estate markets, there’s been a trend toward downsizing. Nowhere is that more true than for Lilliput Play Homes. The company that describes itself as “the premier designer of distinctive children’s playhouses” makes children’s fairytale dreams come true.

In this economy, thrift shopping is trendy, with sales rising as retail spending plummets. Pittsburgh company ModCloth was inspired by secondhand before it was cool.

Family game night is making a comeback, and parents are finding that the enthusiastic squeals of delight from the kids are now accompanied by the woofs and meows of the pets. DARF has found a way for all family members to join the fun, even those with fur.

Readers who hate to spend money for a book that sits idly on the shelf after reading have previously ventured into to the library or used bookstore. But those frugal bookworms now have an added option with BookMooch. The company has formed a community that “lets you give away books you no longer need in exchange for books you really want.”

For those with ambitious weight loss goals, there’s always the problem of what to wear on the way down. Transitional Sizes aims to fill in the gaps without breaking the bank.